What do you need to know about Tokyo Mirage Sessions #FE Encore?

Tokyo Mirage Sessions #FE is coming back! In 2020, Nintendo is bringing its collaboration with Atlus to the Switch. As is common with these Wii U ports, a little something extra is being added in for the encore performance. But what should someone expect in general, in the event they missed the RPG the first time around? Well, it is something that is a lot more like Persona than either Fire Emblem or Shin Megami Tensei.

What is Tokyo Mirage Sessions #FE?

What happens when Atlus and Nintendo come together to mash up elements from two sorts of series into one? You get Tokyo Mirage Sessions #FE, a game that takes a little from Fire Emblem and Shin Megami Tensei. Though, it isn’t as straightforward as melding two concepts together for one JRPG.

Tokyo Mirage Sessions #FE went through, well, a lot before it became what it is. Atlus ended up taking the reins during development, starting out with a turn-based, strategic-RPG like Fire Emblem. Some of the earliest promotional videos showed the project with this sort of battle system. However, the actual game’s dungeon-crawling, progression system and battles are more along the lines of Persona, the Shin Megami Tensei spin-off.

It is best to think of it as this: Tokyo Mirage Sessions #FE is a Persona game where variants of iconic Fire Emblem warriors are connected to a talent agency’s performers in a contemporary Tokyo.

Which Tokyo Mirage Session #FE elements are inspired by Fire Emblem?

Tokyo Mirage Sessions #FE and its updated Encore releasemight be a bit jarring for Fire Emblem fans. This is because it really is more of a Shin Megami Tensei game with Fire Emblem seasoning, like a bowl of rice with a squirt of soy sauce on top.

Fire Emblem characters are the connective tissues here. Each one is essentially a summonable support for the main characters, lending them power and a weapon. Fire Emblem Awakening’s Chrom, Tharja and Virion and Fire Emblem: Shadow Dragon and the Blade of Light’s Caeda, Cain, Draug, Navarre and Tiki all appear as amnesiac allies who lend power to your team. You will also face other characters from the series as enemies, such as Abel, Gangrel, Gordin, Jagen and Lon’qu.

Some battle concepts return too. All of the Mirages in your party can advance to new classes with Master Seals, a concept and item present in the Fire Emblem games, to become more powerful. They also each have a familiar sort of weapon connected to them. Since Itsuki Aoi has Chrom as his Mirage, his weapon is a sword. Eleonora, who is connected to Virion, uses a bow.

How is Tokyo Mirage Sessions #FE like Shin Megami Tensei and Persona games?

If someone looked at Tokyo Mirage Sessions #FE and Encore and wasn’t tipped off about the Fire Emblem connection, they could absolutely think it is another Persona game. So many elements from the Shin Megami Tensei series appear, with the modern Tokyo setting only being the start.

The whole connection between the playable characters and Fire Emblem-inspired Mirages essentially gives each person their own Persona, as the abilities and spells they use are connected to this ethereal partner. The weakness system is identical to the ones used in Shin Megami Tensei games, where each sort of weapon attack or magic type could be a possible weakness. Like the Persona All-Out Attack, you could trigger a Session Attack where other party members aid you in a fight. It also has a three-person party, which can be common for Shin Megami Tensei games.

There’s also the division between living your best daily life and battling to save the city. While you will dungeon-dive, you’ll also spend time in Tokyo, talking with people, seeing the singers’ performances and going through side-stories with party members to make them more powerful. It can feel like the Persona games, where part of your time is spent enjoying school life and bonding with friends.

How is Tokyo Mirage Sessions #FE Encore different from the original?

The biggest immediately noticeable change is that Tokyo Mirage Sessions #FE Encore doesn’t require a second screen. The original always had the chat function on the Wii U Gamepad. Now, everything takes place on a single screen.

As for the other alterations, they are the sorts of inclusions you would expect in a director’s cut of a product. Kiria and Tsubasa perform a new song called “She is…” in it. Tiki and Maiko Shimazaki will be in Sessions in battles. There will be new costumes for characters and Tsubasa’s glasses will be optional. An extra dungeon will be available. Not to mention, the original game’s DLC will be included.

Tokyo Mirage Sessions #FE Encore will come to the Nintendo Switch on January 17, 2020.